Marijuana should be legalized

July 31, 2013

I have thought long and hard about this topic (legalized marijuana). About 40 years. After you get by all the "canned" arguments against it such as, "Why add another legal drug to the problem", and of course all the good points made in the movie, "Reefer Madness" (sarcasm), not to mention all the people that had their faces eaten off lately (bath salts). Ask them if they would rather deal with a stony or a belligerent drunk. And if they are honest as the guys I talked to were, they will tell you hands down they prefer the stoner.

Marijuana is not hashish or hash oil or any other derivative any more than Schell's beer (6 percent at most) is Everclear (190 proof). Most people will tell you the pot they prefer is milder than the bell ringing, head splitting, couch lock stuff Cheech and Chong smoked in their hilarious movies. The same as most people will tell you they prefer a beer or a glass of wine to Everclear.

Check the facts; most medical marijuana strains have been developed to a point where the THC and the various cabinoid levels are adjusted for specific maladies. If the psychiatric community is honest with us they will tell you the main problem patients have with marijuana is guilt. The guilt of being a criminal and the guilt of spending lot money on a weed that can be found growing wild or can be grown as easily as tomatoes, and most all the guilt of having to associate with people they may not want to in their search for it.

Again let me be clear, marijuana is not hashish, hash oil, or any of its derivatives. Marijuana should not be combined with alcohol any more than any other of your prescription medications should. The alcohol industry, big pharma, the drug dealers, the prison industry and the ignorant are the driving force behind the push to keep marijuana illegal. This is because they know alcohol sales will take a big hit, various strains of marijuana will replace $300 prescriptions, and the drug dealers will go broke. The ignorant will become educated. And to the ignorant, go online and observe the huge industry that exists. It is here as it always has been and it is NOT going away. And as far as being a "gateway drug," the vast majority will have no desire to go through that gate.

Minnesota, fight against it or ignore it at your financial peril. You will be viewed as ignoramuses.